Pakistan Cricket Board once again recalled fast bowler Muhammad Amir. Aamir is again under consideration to be sent to England at the request of chief selector and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq where he will be available for the T20 series.
Earlier, when the Pakistani cricket team was being selected for the tour of England, Muhammad Aamir had expressed his unavailability for the tour of England due to personal reasons, but now after the birth of his daughter, he has indicated his availability to go to England.
Regarding sending Mohammad Amir to England, chief selector and head coach Misbah-ul-Haq said that since fast bowler Harris Rauf’s Corona Test has come five times positive, the team needs an experienced bowler, so Muhammad Amir has been called up to England.
The decision to send Muhammad Amir to England has been debated in cricketing circles and most analysts believe that the Pakistan Cricket Board has always been soft on Aamir.
Former Pakistan cricket captain Rashid Latif says the Pakistan Cricket Board has always been weak in making its decisions, which need not go into detail. As far as sending Muhammad Aamir to England is concerned, there are mixed reactions about it. If he is also available for the Test matches, only then it can be called a good decision.
Senior journalist Abdul Majid Bhatti in his tweet has called Aamir as a unique ladla (Blue-eyed). He says Amir has passed him prime. The cricket board must get out of the stardom mentality and should take tough calls.
Another senior journalist, Sohail Imran, asked: “Is Muhammad Amir so important to the team that he announces his availability and the team management starts thinking about including him in the team?” What is wrong with giving a chance to bowlers who are part of the squad in difficult situations? What is the fault of young fast bowler Mohammad Musa?
Muhammad Amir’s career is divided into two parts. The first part is from the beginning of the career to the spot-fixing scandal. During this time he emerged as a very talented and dangerous swing bowler.
He had to stay away from cricket for five years due to his involvement in the spot-fixing scandal. Since his return, although he has represented Pakistan in all three formats, his performance has lacked consistency and this is evident from his statistics.
If he had become a hero in the 2017 Champions Trophy final because of his dangerous spell, his disappointing performance in the Asia Cup just a year later had become a source of concern for Captain Sarfraz Ahmed and Coach Mickey Arthur.
Captain Sarfraz Ahmed was forced to remind him that he was a strike bowler and his job is to take wickets. Muhammad Aamir had taken 17 wickets in the World Cup last year, but three against India and five against Australia did not help the team win.
Aamir failed to make a significant impact in Test matches after a five-year ban and focused mostly on limited overs cricket. However, he has also played four-day county cricket during this period. He announced his retirement from Test cricket at the end of last year’s World Cup.
The effects of his decision not to play Tests were felt when the Pakistani cricket team was on a tour of Australia and the selectors had to go with young and inexperienced fast bowlers. That is why Misbah-ul-Haq and Waqar Yonus had sharply criticized Amir and Wahab Riaz for not playing Test cricket in view of the difficult tour of Australia.
The general opinion is that Muhammad Amir, after a five-year ban, has not been able to take his international career to where it was expected to be. Although he is now 28 years old, he has limited his career by disassociating himself from the most important format, Test cricket and being out of the central contract. However, the irony with Pakistan cricket is that still after 10 years, when Aamir first dashed his way on the big stage to date, Pakistan has been unable to find an alternative to the level of skill and class that he possesses.
